Shots in the Dark - Warm Bodies Oneshots
by Megami Ryuuzaki
Summary: A series of oneshots mostly revolving around R and Julie. Bookverse. Rated T to be safe in case of future chapters.
1. Chapter 1

So I have decided that there are not nearly enough Warm Bodies fanfics out there, especially fics based on the book, which was better for the most part in my opinion. (I also cringe when I read my eight year old fics compared to what I write now, so I also wanted to update my portfolio here on FF.) So, even though I am new to the fandom and I am not confident that I will do the characters justice, I am going to try writing some fics for this amazing series. This will be a collection of one shots, most -if not all- will be RxJulie. Please excuse anything you may find OOC. I get so nervous writing for a new series that this might happen sometimes. My apologies.

Some of these might be AU, as in I might alter what happened in the book slightly to fit with my ideas. For example, I kind of wish Julie had kissed R more often when he was a zombie. Yeah, I have some sort of odd fetish with undead romance. So there might be some of that, but I won't be altering the world or doing any kind of crossover anything. The only AU will be my switching up the original plot a bit. Anyway, enjoy and please let me know what you think. Is this good enough to keep writing more or should I just stop? Lol.

These will pretty much all be based on the book, so there will be spoilers or you might be confused if you have not read it or its prequel The New Hunger. Sorry for the long intro. Author notes will not be this long after this.

This first one shot takes place the evening after R arrives at the stadium and goes to Julie's house.

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R lay quietly among the piles of Julie's clothes in her dimly lit room, staring up at the words on the ceiling. Quotes from John Lennon apparently, though they were all just jumbles of illegible symbols to him. He squinted, trying to make out some of the words, but his undead mind just made it all a foggy mess. Giving up, he glanced around at the rest of the things in the room. The stolen art Julie and Nora had collected from the local abandoned museums. The pictures of Julie with Nora, with Perry, with people R didn't know. R stared at the empty yellow wall, the "Hope" wall as Julie called it. He wondered when she would start putting things there. It seemed like she was full of hope. Leaving this wall blank was a curious thing to him. What would she end up putting on this wall? Would she put pictures of herself there? Her friends? Him? He blinked at that last thought. Why would she put anything related to him on that wall? That was a foolish thing to imagine, even if he was trying to...do something. What was he trying to do exactly? Change the world? That seemed like a pretty big thing to accomplish all by himself. He'd have to let Julie in on what was going on in his head soon. Her help with whatever change he was triggering would be indispensable.

The girl in question rolled over on the pile of clothes next to him and he glanced her way. She made a quiet noise that sounded like a tired sigh. She was awake. Had she been awake this whole time? Julie stretched a little bit and R saw her eyes open to look at him.

"R?" She whispered so she wouldn't wake Nora, who was sleeping on the bed across the room, snoring like a delicate chainsaw.

"Hm?" he responded, just as quietly.

"Can't sleep," she muttered. After several moments of silence, she continued, "I still can't believe you came here. Can't believe you managed to get inside the stadium."

Her voice was as full of mirth as it could get considering how tired she was. R just shrugged, realized he had, and was grateful Julie hadn't seemed to notice. She would have chided him. Told him to use his words. But he had nothing to say to her comment. Of course he came to find her. They had only been together for a week or so, but being with her already seemed like such a natural thing. He missed her when she left him. Plus the whole changing thing. That was something important and the only person that would believe a Corpse, that would believe _him_, was the blonde girl laying on the floor next to him. She smiled tiredly and he found himself drawn to her, this beautiful girl that had somehow come to trust him. He was content in that moment, just being with her, and he felt like he would have wanted nothing more than to stay like that forever.

Julie sat up a bit, leaning on her arm to support her, and her face grew serious as she gazed at R. She looked like she wanted to say something and he waited patently, staring at her, unblinking.

"R?"

"Yeah?"

"If I kissed you, would I become...like you?"

R stared at her for a moment. This was the second time she had asked this question since he got here and he thought he was hearing things. Going insane. He was sure she must have been going insane too. He was a Corpse. Why would the thought of kissing him ever go through her mind? And how was he supposed to know what would happen? He was pretty sure that particular question had never been asked before, ever. He glanced over at Nora's sleeping form on the bed, then shifted his eyes back to Julie quickly.

"I...don't know." he answered truthfully, though he thought back to the beer they had shared at the airport and was fairly confident that a bite was needed to spread the infection since her drinking from the same bottle as him hadn't done anything. Still though, was confident speculation enough to risk Julie's life? She could end up like him. Could he take that chance? With the way she was looking at him at that moment, the answer was a definite maybe. He rolled on his side and mirrored her position, leaning on his arm, still staring into her beautiful blue eyes. She had gotten closer without his noticing, he had been too caught up in his thoughts, and they were only inches apart. If he could blush, he would have certainly been a bright red. For a moment he thought he felt his heart beat, but that was impossible and he decided it was just his imagination.

"Well..." Julie whispered, now close enough that her warm breath tickled R's face. "I want to try..."

She slowly leaned in and he did the same, their eyes drifting closed before their lips met gently, almost tentatively in R's case. Her lips were soft and warm compared to the rough, chapped, and cold of his own. Her hand came up and threaded through his hair, pushing on the back of his head a bit, drawing him closer. He obliged and leaned into her more, ready to deepen the kiss, until the sound of Nora making a noise and turning over in her sleep made them break apart quickly with a quiet gasp. They both lay down flat on the floor quickly, staying motionless for a few moments until they were sure Nora was still asleep. They turned their heads to look at each other again. Julie smiled and R grinned back at her shyly. She seemed to be fine. The infection hadn't spread. That was good, but the major thought going through R's mind wasn't whether she was infected or not. All he could think about was the fact that she wasn't repulsed by him. She willingly kissed him and seemed to like it as much as he had.

If they got through whatever hardships changing the world would bring them, R was sure of one thing; he wanted to be with Julie. The thought of kissing Julie more made R grin wider as he turned his gaze back to the quotes on the ceiling, and he swore he could now almost make out some of the words.

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Thank you so much for reading! Feedback is always appreciated. I won't know if you liked this enough to want more stories from me if you don't review, favorite, or follow. I have a couple more one shot ideas in mind that I may post anyway, but until then, don't be afraid to tell me what you think.


	2. Chapter 2

I am probably going to be doing a 30 Kisses challenge in this collection with themes I found interesting from several different lists. After this, the one shots will all be based around a theme, which I will list before each fic and I'll probably name the chapter title after the theme as well. After the 30 Kisses challenge, I will resume writing things unprompted.

I also wanted to point out that these one shots are not necessarily in the same timeline or connected at all. They are all stand alone scenes. At least for now.

This one is my own little take on what might have happened during the scene where R and Julie spent the night at an abandoned house on their way to get Julie home. Enjoy some more ZombieRxJulie fluff!

Yes, it's just another reworking of a scene with a couple actual quotes from the book. Forgive me. I'm still getting back into the swing of writing fanficion and I'm just using this as a warm up to get used to writing for characters that aren't mine, again. After this, the fics will probably be original scenarios.

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The rain was pouring outside the house, the scent of wet concrete permeating the air, wafting up from the streets of the dilapidated suburban neighborhood. It was late afternoon, but the clouds and fog created the illusion of twilight. Julie Grigio stared out one of the windows in the living room, mentally grateful that R had pulled over to get her out of the rain. Though she tried to hide it, he had noticed that she was cold. If she had learned anything about R during their time together it was that he was quite an observant zombie. Though, the wind, combined with the rain drenching her clothes, had made it difficult for her to keep from shivering involuntarily and that was probably hard to miss, even for a zombie. It was a shame they couldn't get Mercey's roof to go up. If they had kept driving, they could have been within sight of Citi Stadium by now. But that would mean this -whatever this was she was doing with R- would be over. A couple of weeks ago she would have been ecstatic to be going home and getting away from that zombie kidnapping nightmare. Now? Now she wasn't so sure that was what she really wanted, it was just something she knew she had to do.

Julie ran a hand through her short, choppy, and still damp, hair, willing it to dry faster. Her body may have stopped shivering, but that didn't mean she was much warmer. She heard shuffling behind her as R wandered around the house, stopping to stare at all the little trinkets strewn about. God, he was so weird. Interested in little things, observant, empathetic. He didn't seem like a zombie at all. She had found herself forgetting what he was several times the past couple of weeks. What the hell was wrong with her? Anyone could tell he was a Corpse just by looking at him. But he was so sweet, and kind of cute, in a creepy, undead sort of way. That was a strange way to think... Julie huffed a bit, and turned to face her companion, finding him poking a cuckoo clock on the wall.

"Thanks for pulling over," she said, smiling a little at his curiosity toward the clock. "I was really getting cold out there." She rubbed her arms, her sleeves still wet and cold to the touch.

R just looked at her and nodded. Julie stared at him a moment longer before deciding she needed to find something to change into. Anything dry would be a blessing. She wandered over to a door that led to a bedroom and glanced around for a closet or dresser. Her eyes landed on a dresser on the far end of the room and she hurried over to it, opening drawers and gathering up all the clothes out of them. Walking back out to the living room with the pile of clothes in her arms, she found R sitting on the love-seat and she dropped the pile in the space next to him. She lifted a large pair of pants and wrapped it around her waist.

"What do you think?" she asked, glancing sideways at R. "Do these make me look fat?"

She dropped the pants and dug around the pile for something else, pulling out a shirt that was far too large for her. Sighing, she tossed the clothes onto the floor and frowned. It wasn't terribly late -though it was dark outside now- but Julie was exhausted. Running from Skeletons kind of did that to a person.

"The bed didn't look too rotten in there," Julie commented to R, her hands on her hips. "So, I'm going try to sleep, maybe I'll warm up under the covers. Good night."

She turned on her heel and disappeared into the bedroom where she stopped at the end of the king size bed and stared at it for a minute. Tugging the blankets aside, she crawled on top of the musty smelling mattress and paused, thinking. She hadn't fallen asleep without R near her in almost a month and it just seemed oddly uncomfortable without him close by. He was only a room away, but it at that moment it felt like he was miles in the opposite direction. Why was she feeling like this? Julie grumbled and pushed the blankets aside again, practically stomping back to the doorway. As tired as she was, she wouldn't be able to sleep feeling like this. She crossed her arms and leaned against the door frame, tapping her foot as she waiting for R to notice her. He was laying down on the love-seat and looked to be...sleeping? After a minute he seemed to regain himself and noticed her staring at him.

"What?" he asked, sitting up.

Julie met his gaze a moment before looking down, almost nervously.

"Um," she began, fidgeting a little. "The bed's a king size. So I guess, if you wanted to, you could join me in there." She blushed as R raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Look, _all_ I'm saying is I don't mind giving you a side of the bed. These rooms are spooky, you know? Plus I haven't showered in over a week so you don't smell much worse than I do. Maybe we'll cancel each other out."

She shrugged one shoulder and disappeared back into the bedroom, flopping on the side of the bed furthest from the door and wrapping herself in the blankets. R walked in a few minutes later to find her cocooned at the end of the bed. He slowly shuffled over and lay down on the opposite end, as far from her as he could, being quite the gentleman, which was an odd thing to be, for a Corpse. Julie felt the urge to move closer to him. Not sure what was going on with her brain, she scooted toward the middle of the bed a bit, closer to R, letting out a soft breath and trying to get comfortable. Getting comfortable was impossible though. Her clothes were still too wet and cold and she shivered even under the mass of blankets.

"Damn, these clothes are still..." Julie shot a glance at R and sat up, brushing the covers aside for the third time. "I'm putting my clothes out to dry." Not waiting for a response from R, and despite feeling his gaze on her back, she stood from the bed and wiggled out of her wet clothes, leaving her in her mismatched polka dot bra and plaid panties. She let out a small cry of discomfort as the cold air hit her bare skin and she jumped back into the bed, burying herself under the covers again, ending up slightly closer to R than before.

From her burrito of blankets, she stared at R, -who now had his arms behind his head and was staring at the ceiling- eyeing his red tie in particular, suddenly finding it amusing that he was wearing something so impractical for the way the world was now. His dress shirt and tie seemed to be from a time so long ago; a time Julie tried to hold on to, but found to be slipping away from her memories little by little over the years. She frowned at the thought and absently reached for the tie, finding the once silky material to be slightly rough and frayed from being unwashed for who knew how long.

R became very still, even more so than usual, as Julie gently inspected his tie. She had willingly touched him a handful of times, but each time she did he felt like he would scare her if he moved even an inch. So he remained motionless, eyes glued to a random spot on the ceiling of the dark room. It seemed like she suddenly realized what she was doing as she quickly retracted her hand, but Julie would never know how safe she really was. Though new urges were stirring within R, not just the ones willing him to eat brains, all he really wanted to do in that moment was lay next to this beautiful woman beside him. The most he would ever hope for was to have her rest her head on his chest, release a warm sigh, and sleep. Several long moments passed, and just as R was beginning to think Julie had fallen asleep, she spoke, almost startling him.

"Thank you," she said, her voice almost a whisper.

R turned his head to look at her.

"For...what?" he questioned, not sure why she was just randomly thanking him. Julie stared into his cold gray eyes, thinking they were kind of pretty. Creepy, but pretty. She took a breath and pursed her lips.

"For everything," she replied. "For saving my life, like, at least four times. For taking care of me. For bringing me home even though it's dangerous for you to go anywhere near the stadium. Why did you even save me in the first place? You're so strange...So different from the others."

R shrugged and she glared at him.

"Use your words," she huffed. "I know you can talk."

R frowned and tried to find the words he wanted to say. If only she could read his mind, it would have been so much easier.

"Don't...know," he finally responded, turning from her piercing blue gaze to look at the ceiling again. "Saw you...felt...con...connection. Wanted to...keep you safe." Damn it was difficult to speak multiple syllables, though he thought he was getting a little better.

Julie just stared at him, narrowing her eyes, trying to understand. It was amazing how different he really was. R was so far outside the idea that everyone had about Corpses that, at that moment, Julie had to remind herself firmly that he was indeed a Corpse, and she should be wary. But no, the non-rational part of her brain scolded her and defensively argued that he was just R. It didn't matter what he was. What was most important was who he was. He was R, someone who saved her life on multiple occasions. Someone who could be adorable and kind and even caring. He was just R and somehow, deep inside, she knew she could trust him. To hell with what she was taught. R was obviously not dead, not to her, and with this thought in mind, she did something she would have never imagined even thinking of two weeks ago.

With a quick sigh, Julie moved over and closed the gap between her and R and, after moving his ratty tie over, rested her head on his chest, one hand coming up to lay next to her face, her elbow falling on his stomach. R's body immediately became rigid, and due to his cooler body temperature, he felt like a piece of some kind of metal to Julie. She snickered at his nervousness and hit him lightly.

"Oh relax," she told him, letting out a small sigh of comfort. This just felt so peaceful to her for some reason and she liked it.

R's eyes widened in astonishment. Her warmth, which he was thankful had returned, seeped into his body. Wait, was he actually feeling warmth? Was that just an illusion created by this impossible and amazing thing that was happening? He didn't dwell on that thought too long, focusing instead on the girl now nestled on his chest. Her breathing had slowed to a rhythm he had come to know meant she was asleep. He slowly pulled one arm out from under his head and tentatively brought it toward her hair, his fingers carefully weaving through the choppy blonde strands. Julie moved a little in her sleep, seeming to get even more comfortable, letting out a quiet noise of contentment, and a small smile crept to R's face. Somehow, Julie had done exactly what he had imagined and hoped for. Could she actually read minds? He'd have to ask her about that in the morning.

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Thanks for reading! And thank you so much J. Valentine0 and ChefPam for reviewing the first one-shot. That really means a lot to me! As always, feedback is appreciated on this shot too.


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